Mags' Birthday
by Crystabel.Shalott
Summary: AU (Finnick survived the war) Annie and Finnick decide to celebrate Mags' birthday even if she isn't with them anymore.


**Author's note: **AU for obvious reasons.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own 'The Hunger Games', they belong to Suzanne Collins.

Mags' Birthday:

Annie stood at the kitchen entrance, observing the scene in front of her eyes with a radiant smile on her face. The kitchen itself was in a state of a complete and utter mess, but a few bowls out of their place and flour scattered on the counter weren't enough to ruin the general scene, which, in the end, was the most important thing. There were Finnick, stirring something in a bowl and talking gibberish, and Aneurin - their son - sitting in his high chair, gurgling happy at his father while studying, with all the attention possible, a teaspoon which he putted in his mouth a few seconds later. She loved looking at them together: it was a reminder that the worst period of their lives was over and that something new and better started. They survived the war, they suffered a lot of pain and violence, they had their scars inside as well as outside, but their dream became reality at last: they had a family. Their family. The Odair family. As it was supposed to be.

She didn't give it for granted and she was thankful everyday that Finnick survived the mutts' attack in the underground of the Capitol. But she was also thankful to Mags. Sweet, old Mags who took her place at the reaping, knowing that she wouldn't survive the games, but at the same time knowing that this way Finnick and she would have had a chance once the rebels took him out of the arena and rescued her from the District. Unfortunately things didn't go exactly as they were planned but all of this didn't matter anymore.

Talking of Mags, it was the 23rd of May and it would have been her birthday. She and Finnick talked about it the entire week, deciding what to do in her honor and they reached to the conclusion that they would have celebrate it anyway, since she had played such a key role in both their lives. The main problem was that they didn't find the right thing to do, but at the sight of it she guessed that Finnick came up with an idea.

"Good morning, my love" said Finnick with a smile, as he noticed her for the first time.

"Morning husband. Hello Ni. How are you both doing?"

"Fine. Little Ni here, is very happy to have discovered the existence of teaspoons. And he is probably wondering how he could have lived without them for the first nine months of his life"

Hearing his name, and the voice of his mother, Aneurin dropped the spoon and begun to shake his little fists in the air, claiming for more attention than just a few words and a few strokes on his head. Annie gladly took him in her arms and gave him a light kiss on his cheek.

"And I came up with an idea for Mags' birthday this morning! I am baking an apple pie, which, as you know, was her favorite"

Annie nodded. She remembered it well: Mags' house always smelled like apple pie on Saturday afternoons. She used to bake them in the morning and invite them over to drink a coffee or tea and eat a slice of cake. They spent many nice hours together this way: gathered around the table, eating, drinking something warm and talking about their lives. Then she usually gave them the remains for the next breakfast, although she and Finnick ended up eating it for dinner.

"I miss her everyday"

"Yeah. I... It's hard." Finnick made a pause and breathed sharply "I still see it all: the mist coming closer, me unable to move, the fog coming closer, Mags kissing my lips and walking into the fog. I wonder everyday if there wasn't a way to keep her alive, that it was all my fault"

Since he was rescued from the arena, Mags' death had been a fixed point inside his mind and it still was. the poisoning fog was one of the vast scenarios of his nightmares. Annie was aware of it and she understood him well. Mags had been part of Finnick's life since he had been fourteen, when she became his mentor in his first games. But their relationship had never been only a tribute-mentor relationship: she was a motherly figure to him, she raised him. And she helped him a lot when he had to see his clients, he could talk to her, open his heart and ask for advice.

And there was no chance her death was his fault: he didn't wrote the Quarter Quell rules nor did he designed the arena and its traps.

"Finnick, look at me. It was not your fault, how could it? And Mags wouldn't want you to think it, not even for a second"

"I know, but it still is difficult"

She walked towards him, holding Aneurin with one arm and pulling Finnick closer with the other. Finnick putted down the bowl in his hands and hugged Annie back, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Aneurin, sensing that something was wrong with his dad, begun to try to get his attention.

"Come here buddy"

Finnick took his son, blinked away the tears in his own eyes and begun to cradle him, while Aneurin looked at him with his big green eyes trying to understand what was wrong.

"We owe her so much, not only for the games but also us. Who we are, what we are, and that we are together"

"I know. It's embarrassing thinking now about all the hints she gave us"

And it was because the times Mags gave them understanding glances or looked at them as if to say 'what are you waiting for?' were uncountable. She always insisted that they should just admit their feelings, long before Annie and Finnick actually realized them, before it was getting boring to see the longing looks and goofy smiles at dinner table. One of her favorite quotes had been 'Just tell her already'. Of course there had also been the evenings when she would retire early, even if she wasn't tired, just so Finnick and Annie had time alone.

It was a funny thing to think about now.

"But the most embarrassing thing ever was that she knew when we had sex for the first time. Gosh she read us like we were open books. Which was one of the things I liked most of her, and one of the things I hated most"

They both laughed at it.

* * *

That afternoon they sat in the kitchen, Aneurin was sleeping in his pushchair placed near the table. In the middle of the table there was the cake Finnick baked: it didn't look like the one Mags did, it was a little crooked and burnt on the sides but it was unimportant. For it being the first experience of baking for Finnick, it tasted quite good even though there was an exaggerate measure of sugar in it.

Finnick raised his coup of coffee and said "Happy birthday Mags!" adding "Thanks for everything you did for us"

Annie replied to the toast with a "We will always remember you".

They ate a few slices of cake, drunk their drinks and talked about the old times. A few tears were shed but they did laugh too, and decided that from now on every year they would have celebrated Mags' birthday this way.


End file.
